Dressing the Bump

 

As I get closer and closer to my due date (but who knows when babies are going to come – trying not to put too much pressure on the due date itself) I thought I would do a round up on here of all the trimesters and how I’ve gone from styling a tummy that just looked as though it had had a too big sodium heavy Chinese takeaway to a full on XXL bump that makes people’s eyes pop. Most pregnant women are pregnant in all four seasons, the season that matters the most is the one you find yourself in when you’re at your most pregnant as this one feels the longest. For me, I was only pregnant for a second of Autumn and Winter barely bothered me as my bump was so teeny tiny. Spring and more importantly Summer have been my main pregnancy seasons, if you’re reading this a few months from now and find yourself newly pregnant in October/November or December (firstly hello from the past! Secondly, congratulations!) then this advice will work well for you, similarly no matter when you conceive I hope my tips on maternity style and dressing will work for you! Here I’m going to break down my pregnancy style into months:

One:As most of us don’t find out until after we are 5 weeks pregnant the first month goes without saying is pretty easy to dress! I look back at photos from when I was 4 weeks pregnant and honestly look thinner than I did in previous months. Not sure if that’s because I wasn’t getting a PMS bloat or just down to weight loss from the nausea but I definitely slimmed down a bit but my boobs certainly got bigger almost immediately. I noticed I had to wear a bra where I otherwise wouldn’t have had to. This is the time to wear tight fitting tops and high waisted anything – in fact if you’ve just done a pregnancy test go and put something high waisted with no stretch on this second because those days are going to be over a lot sooner than you think!

Two : By the end of my second month of pregnancy (for me this was early to mid January) I found I could no longer comfortably do up my non stretch denim. I immediately stuck to the denim in my wardrobe that had a decent amount of stretch. My middle thickened and I had a constant bloat.

Three: Around weeks 13/14/15 I really started to feel a small bump develop that was significantly bigger by the end of the day due to my bloating. I was still wearing my usual non maternity jeans but found by the end of the third month I was preferring not to do the button up and swathing my changing body in big jumpers. I was quite coy about my pregnancy before 16 weeks and didn’t want to tell the world as I had loved keeping it just for my friends and family so when I went to work events I favoured loose jumpers, skinny jeans and boots. It was also February so the perfect time to wear such a look!

Four: Newly announced on Insta I was all about showing off my new bump! I noticed at around 16/17 weeks that I would wake up and see the lump of where the baby was which was super cool, it’s also when I first started feeling movement which was the most special and goose bump inducing time. I was all about tight fitting dresses and tops to show off my new and growing bump, this is the month that most women can feel a bit frumpy as the bump takes form but doesn’t look obviously pregnant. Wearing tighter clothes will accentuate and flatter you more than looser ones. I invested in maternity jeans from Topshop and ASOS (ASOS actually were better and had some amazing “fashion” options such as the Kimmi boyfriends). I favoured tight fitting tops with skinny jeans or boyfriend jeans, ankle boots and cropped biker jackets to really show off my figure and highlight the pregnancy, I was so proud of my blossoming bump I loved showing it off!

Five : My bump went through a big growth spurt and noticeably hardened to almost rock solid between 21-24 weeks and I was unquestionably pregnant looking. I still favoured tighter dresses but found looser styles looked good again as my bump was hardened and well rounded. I went up one dress size from my favourite retailers and felt great, this was definitely my favourite month to dress the bump and play around with styling both tighter dresses and looser styles. I loved how strangers would come up and congratulate me!

Six : My 6 month bump was growing at a rapid rate meaning that one day a dress would fit and the next it no longer would. This is when I would suggest opting for looser styles and really taking some time to work out what in your wardrobe still fits and wearing it ASAP! Bumps really do grow overnight so if you have an outfit you’ve been meaning to wear do it sooner rather than later. I think 6 months was around the last time I wore a pair of jeans as the weather really heated up around this point for me. As I transitioned into month 7 we went on our baby moon and it was the perfect time really as I was juuuust starting to feel heavy and cumbersome but not too badly!

Seven: The third trimester and month 7 also comes with quite the bump that might take some getting used to, especially as a lot of women only might start showing around this time. In month 7 I loved wearing high waisted skirts with t shirts and opted for none maternity dresses that had elasticated waists which meant that I could hoik up the waist part to the under boob and let the free flowing fabric fall over the bump. This is also one of the last times you can wear dresses that are more rigid at the top as pretty soon your ribs will start expanding to accommodate your ever growing uterus.

Eight to nine: Eight aka the month your ribs take over. Here comfort really is key and all structured dresses were out the window, even if they fitted over the bump they wouldn’t do up over my newly expanded rib cage. Opt for stretchy fabrics and loose fitting tops/dresses and accentuate your figure with a belt loosely done up under the boob. This will also probably be the last time you’ll want to wear anything body con as soon you’ll have a post partum body to think about, whilst I felt too exposed in body con in months 6/7 I decided to yolo and take my gigantic bump out for a spin in stretchy tight dresses to really relish the bump before its gone.

For me dressing the bump has been a real pleasure, I’ve enjoyed the sartorial challenge and all the different stages, it’s such a wonderful time to be growing human life, if you get dismayed about your changing figure or your weight gain just remember that it is all for the most incredible reason and enjoy it whilst it lasts! 

Brands I’ve loved: All Saints, Me+Em, Nasty Gal (so good for dresses with elasticated waists – only need to go up one size in most styles) NAKD (ditto fab elasticated pretty printed dresses), Isabella Oliver (maternity), Envie De Fraise (maternity), Jojo Maman Bebe (fab jeans & dungarees – really flattering) and ASOS Maternity.